Special Effects Paint

One of the questions we get asked the most is how to dye our sola wood flowers in metallic paint and how to best incorporate glitter (because, let's be honest - who doesn't love a little added sparkle and bling?!). Here are a few tips for working with these special effects paints!

Metallic Paint

Metallic and pearl paints are a great way to bring a metallic feel to your flowers! While they end up being a bit more shimmery than solid metal, the essence of a rose gold or copper flower can be achieved.

A few things to note:

1. Be sure to use at least one part paint to one part water! If you dilute the metallic paint by adding in more water than paint, you will not get solid coloring. The shimmer will also not be as visible.
2. Stir your paint/water mixture between every flower you dip! Paint settles over time but it settles to the bottom of your container much quicker if it is a metallic paint.
3. You can use glycerin! All of the flowers in the video above have glycerin and they are still pliable.
4. All brands of metallic paint worked very similarly! We experimented with DecoArt, FolkArt, craft smart, Anita's and Modern Masters.
5. The paint brands and colors we used in order of appearance in the video: Anita's Pearl Metallic Blush Gold, FolkArt Rose Gold, Modern Masters Copper, craft smart Gold and DecoArt Worn Penny.

Colorshift Paint

Colorshift paints are really, really neat! If you want to give your flowers a two-toned glimmer look, these will do the trick - especially when in direct sunlight or under a light source.

The same notes apply as from our metallics section except we only tested the FolkArt brand for these. Mainly because those were the only colorshift paints we could find in the craft store during our shopping trip!

Also, black to gold colorshift paint comes out primarily gold but with a hint of black.

Glitter Paint and Glazes

Glitter paint and glazes are in a magical unicorn category all by themselves. When you tell me I can get glitter in a project without glitter getting EVERYWHERE, I'm in. No questions asked.

There were some interesting finds we made while playing with these paints and here are some things to note:

1. Glitter paint does not like being watered down (a few teeny drops mixed in is okay to thin it out a little) but glazes are happy in a 50/50 glaze/water mixture!
2. Glitter and glaze paints look best when added to already dyed flowers. Any color flower will work but there is something special about glitter and glaze on a black flower (as seen in the video above). The black used for the base color is craft smart Black.
3. Chunky glitter paint should be hand painted directly onto your flower!
4. Glaze (we used Dragonfly Glaze which can be found at any craft store) will add shimmer AND shine to your flowers!

The Full Collection! 

We experimented with a lot of different colors but when putting them together for a final collection photo, this color story called out to us. Fun little spin on fall and Halloween, right?! Excited to see what everyone comes up with using these special effects paints!